Northern Explorer
The Northern Explorer is a long-distance passenger train operated by the Great Journeys New Zealand division of KiwiRail between Auckland and Wellington in the North Island of New Zealand, along the North Island Main Trunk. Three services operate per week in each direction between Auckland's The Strand Station and Wellington railway station. The Northern Explorer replaced the Overlander from 25 June 2012.
It was suspended in December 2021, after suspension in August for COVID-19 lockdown. However, it restarted on 25 September 2022.
History
Origins
The first regular daylight Wellington–Auckland passenger train services, augmenting the older overnight services, were the steam-hauled Daylight Limited and diesel-hauled Scenic Daylight, which ran primarily during summer months and Easter holiday period for many years from the 1920s onwards. The arrival of the Blue Streak and later Silver Fern railcars saw an end for a time to regular carriage trains. At the time of its cessation, The Overlander was usually hauled by DC or EF locomotives with NZR 56-foot carriages.Re-branding as the ''Northern Explorer''
In 2012, passenger numbers were in decline and KiwiRail decided to replace the Overlander with the Northern Explorer, from Monday 25 June 2012. The timetable was accelerated by eliminating intermediate stops, except Paraparaumu, Palmerston North, Ohakune, National Park, Otorohanga, Hamilton and Papakura. From October 2016, fire-suppressed DFB class locomotives were assigned to the service.The service used one AKC and three AK class carriages, an AKL class luggage van and an AKV class power/viewing van from the Coastal Pacific. A larger AKS luggage van, converted from SA, replaced AKL in 2019.